by poor Helena, and still she told him how she loved him and
reminded him of all his promises, and still he told her that he
did not and could not love her, and that his promises were
nothing. Oberon was sorry for poor Helena, and when Puck returned
with the flower, he bade him follow Demetrius and put some of the
juice on his eyes, so that he might love Helena when he woke and
looked on her, as much as she loved him. So Puck set off, and
wandering through the wood found, not Demetrius, but Lysander, on
whose eyes he put the juice; but when Lysander woke, he saw not
his own Hermia, but Helena, who was walking through the wood
looking for the cruel Demetrius; and directly he saw her he loved
her and left his own lady, under the spell of the purple flower.
When Hermia woke she found Lysander gone, and wandered about the
wood trying to find him. Puck went back and told Oberon what he
had done, and Oberon soon found that he had made a mistake, and
set about looking for Demetrius, and having found him, put some of
the juice on his eyes. And the first thing Demetrius saw when he
woke was also Helena. So now Demetrius and Lysander were both
following her through the wood, and it was Hermia's turn to follow
her lover as Helena had done before. The end of it was that Helena
and Hermia began to quarrel, and Demetrius and Lysander went off
to fight.
Oberon was very sorry to see his kind scheme to help these lovers
turn out so badly. So he said to Puck--
"These two young men are going to fight. You must overhang the
night with drooping fog, and lead them so astray, that one will
never find the other. When they are tired out, they will fall
asleep. Then drop this other herb on Lysander's eyes. That will
give him his old sight and his old love. Then each man will have
the lady who loves him, and they will all think that this has been
only a Midsummer-Night's Dream. Then when this is done, all will
be well with them."
So Puck went and did as he was told, and when the two had fallen
asleep without meeting each other, Puck poured the juice on
Lysander's eyes, and said:--
"When thou wakest, Thou takest True delight In the sight Of thy
former lady's eye: Jack shall have Jill; Nought shall go ill."
Meanwhile Oberon found Titania asleep on a bank where grew wild
thyme, oxlips, and violets, and woodbine, musk-roses and
eglantine. There Titania always slept a part of the night, wrapped
in the enameled skin of a snake. Oberon stopped over her and laid
the juice on her eyes, saying:--
"What thou seest when thou wake, Do it for thy true love take;"
Now, it happened that when Titania woke the first thing she saw
was a stupid clown, one of a party of players who had come out
into the wood to rehearse their play. This clown had met with
Puck, who had clapped an ass's head on his shoulders so that it
looked as if it grew there. Directly Titania woke and saw this
dreadful monster, she said, "What angel is this? Are you as wise
as you are beautiful?"
"If I am wise enough to find my way out of this wood, that's
enough for me," said the foolish clown.
"Do not desire to go out of the wood," said Titania. The spell of
the love-juice was on her, and to her the clown seemed the most
beautiful and delightful creature on all the earth. "I love you,"
she went on. "Come with me, and I will give you fairies to attend
on you."
So she called four fairies, whose names were Peaseblossom, Cobweb,
Moth, and Mustardseed.
"You must attend this gentleman," said the queen. "Feed him with
apricots and dewberries, purple grapes, green figs, and
mulberries. Steal honey-bags for him from the humble-bees, and
with the wings of painted butterflies fan the moonbeams from his
sleeping eyes."
"I will," said one of the fairies, and all the others said, "I
will."
"Now, sit down with me," said the queen to the clown, "and let me
stroke your dear cheeks, and stick musk-roses in your smooth,
sleek head, and kiss your fair large ears, my gentle joy."
"Where's Peaseblossom?" asked the clown with the ass's head. He
did not care much about the queen's affection, but he was very
proud of having fairies to wait on him. "Ready," said Peaseblossom.
"Scratch my head, Peaseblossom," said the clown. "Where's Cobweb?"
"Ready," said Cobweb.
"Kill me," said the clown, "the red bumble-bee on the top of the
thistle yonder, and bring me the honey-bag. Where's Mustardseed?"
"Ready," said Mustardseed.
"Oh, I want nothing," said the clown. "Only just help Cobweb to
scratch. I must go to the barber's, for methinks I am marvelous
hairy about the face."
"Would you like anything to eat?" said the fairy queen.
"I should like some good dry oats," said the clown-for his
donkey's head made him desire donkey's food--"and some hay to
follow."
"Shall some of my fairies fetch you new nuts from the squirrel's
house?" asked the queen.
"I'd rather have a handful or two of good dried peas," said the
clown. "But please don't let any of your people disturb me; I am
going to sleep."
Then said the queen, "And I will wind thee in my arms."
And so when Oberon came along he found his beautiful queen
lavishing kisses and endearments on a clown with a donkey's head.
And before he released her from the enchantment, he persuaded her
to give him the little Indian boy he so much desired to have. Then
he took pity on her, and threw some juice of the disenchanting
flower on her pretty eyes; and then in a moment she saw plainly
the donkey-headed clown she had been loving, and knew how foolish
she had been.
Oberon took off the ass's head from the clown, and left him to
finish his sleep with his own silly head lying on the thyme and
violets.
Thus all was made plain and straight again. Oberon and Titania
loved each other more than ever. Demetrius thought of no one but
Helena, and Helena had never had any thought of anyone but
Demetrius.
As for Hermia and Lysander, they were as loving a couple as you
could meet in a day's march, even through a fairy wood.
So the four mortal lovers went back to Athens and were married;
and the fairy king and queen live happily together in that very
wood at this very day.
THE TEMPEST
Retold by E. Nesbit
Prospero, the Duke of Milan, was a learned and studious man, who
lived among his books, leaving the management of his dukedom to
his brother Antonio, in whom indeed he had complete trust. But
that trust was ill-rewarded, for Antonio wanted to wear the duke's
crown himself, and, to gain his ends, would have killed his
brother but for the love the people bore him. However, with the
help of Prospero's great enemy, Alonso, King of Naples, he managed
to get into his hands the dukedom with all its honor, power, and
riches. For they took Prospero to sea, and when they were far away
from land, forced him into a little boat with no tackle, mast, or
sail. In their cruelty and hatred they put his little daughter,
Miranda (not yet three years old), into the boat with him, and
sailed away, leaving them to their fate.
But one among the courtiers with Antonio was true to his rightful
master, Prospero. To save the duke from his enemies was
impossible, but much could be done to remind him of a subject's
love. So this worthy lord, whose name was Gonzalo, secretly placed
in the boat some fresh water, provisions, and clothes, and what
Prospero valued most of all, some of his precious books.
The boat was cast on an island, and Prospero and his little one
landed in safety. Now this island was enchanted, and for years had
lain under the spell of a fell witch, Sycorax, who had imprisoned
in the trunks of trees all the good spirits she found there. She
died shortly before Prospero was cast on those shores, but the
spirits, of whom Ariel was the chief, still remained in their
prisons.
Prospero was a great magician, for he had devoted himself almost
entirely to the study of magic during the years in which he
allowed his brother to manage the affairs of Milan. By his art he
set free the imprisoned spirits, yet kept them obedient to his
will, and they were more truly his subjects than his people in
Milan had been. For he treated them kindly as long as they did his
bidding, and he exercised his power over them wisely and well. One
creature alone he found it necessary to treat with harshness:
this was Caliban, the son of the wicked old witch, a hideous,
deformed monster, horrible to look on, and vicious and brutal in
all his habits.
When Miranda was grown up into a maiden, sweet and fair to see, it
chanced that Antonio and Alonso, with Sebastian, his brother, and
Ferdinand, his son, were at sea together with old Gonzalo, and
their ship came near Prospero's island. Prospero, knowing they
were there, raised by his art a great storm, so that even the
sailors on board gave themselves up for lost; and first among them
all Prince Ferdinand leaped into the sea, and, as his father
thought in his grief, was drowned. But Ariel brought him safe
ashore; and all the rest of the crew, although they were washed
overboard, were landed unhurt in different parts of the island,
and the good ship herself, which they all thought had been
wrecked, lay at anchor in the harbor whither Ariel had brought
her. Such wonders could Prospero and his spirits perform.
While yet the tempest was raging, Prospero showed his daughter the
brave ship laboring in the trough of the sea, and told her that it
was filled with living human beings like themselves. She, in pity
of their lives, prayed him who had raised this storm to quell it.
Then her father bade her to have no fear, for he intended to save
every one of them.
Then, for the first time, he told her the story of his life and
hers, and that he had caused this storm to rise in order that his
enemies, Antonio and Alonso, who were on board, might be delivered
into his hands.
When he had made an end of his story he charmed her into sleep,
for Ariel was at hand, and he had work for him to do. Ariel, who
longed for his complete freedom, grumbled to be kept in drudgery,
but on being threateningly reminded of all the sufferings he had
undergone when Sycorax ruled in the land, and of the debt of
gratitude he owed to the master who had made those sufferings to
end, he ceased to complain, and promised faithfully to do whatever
Prospero might command.
"Do so," said Prospero, "and in two days I will discharge thee."
Then he bade Ariel take the form of a water nymph and sent him in
search of the young prince. And Ariel, invisible to Ferdinand,
hovered near him, singing the while--
"Come unto these yellow sands And then take hands: Court'sied
when you have, and kiss'd (The wild waves whist), Foot it featly
here and there; And, sweet sprites, the burden bear!"
And Ferdinand followed the magic singing, as the song changed to a
solemn air, and the words brought grief to his heart, and tears to
his eyes, for thus they ran--
"Full fathom five thy father lies; Of his bones are coral made.
Those are pearls that were his eyes Nothing of him that doth
fade, But doth suffer a sea-change Into something rich and
strange. Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell. Hark! now I hear them,--
ding dong bell!"
And so singing, Ariel led the spell-bound prince into the presence
of Prospero and Miranda. Then, behold! all happened as Prospero
desired. For Miranda, who had never, since she could first
remember, seen any human being save her father, looked on the
youthful prince with reverence in her eyes, and love in her secret
heart.
"I might call him," she said, "a thing divine, for nothing natural
I ever saw so noble!"
And Ferdinand, beholding her beauty with wonder and delight,
exclaimed--
"Most sure the goddess on whom these airs attend!"
Nor did he attempt to hide the passion which she inspired in him,
for scarcely had they exchanged half a dozen sentences, before he
vowed to make her his queen if she were willing. But Prospero,
though secretly delighted, pretended wrath.
"You come here as a spy," he said to Ferdinand. "I will manacle
your neck and feet together, and you shall feed on fresh water
mussels, withered roots and husk, and have sea-water to drink.
Follow."
"No," said Ferdinand, and drew his sword. But on the instant
Prospero charmed him so that he stood there like a statue, still
as stone; and Miranda in terror prayed her father to have mercy on
her lover.
But he harshly refused her, and made Ferdinand follow him to his
cell. There he set the prince to work, making him remove thousands
of heavy logs of timber and pile them up; and Ferdinand patiently
obeyed, and thought his toil all too well repaid by the sympathy
of the sweet Miranda.
She in very pity would have helped him in his hard work, but he
would not let her, yet he could not keep from her the secret of
his love, and she, hearing it, rejoiced and promised to be his
wife.
Then Prospero released him from his servitude, and glad at heart,
he gave his consent to their marriage.
"Take her," he said, "she is thine own."
In the meantime, Antonio and Sebastian in another part of the
island were plotting the murder of Alonso, the King of Naples, for
Ferdinand being dead, as they thought, Sebastian would succeed to
the throne on Alonso's death. And they would have carried out
their wicked purpose while their victim was asleep, but that Ariel
woke him in good time.
Many tricks did Ariel play them. Once he set a banquet before
them, and just as they were going to fall to, he appeared to them
amid thunder and lightning in the form of a harpy, and immediately
the banquet disappeared. Then Ariel upbraided them with their sins
and vanished too.
Prospero by his enchantments drew them all to the grove without
his cell, where they waited, trembling and afraid, and now at last
bitterly repenting them of their sins.
Prospero determined to make one last use of his magic power, "And
then," said he, "I'll break my staff and deeper than did ever
plummet sound I'll drown my book."
So he made heavenly music to sound in the air, and appeared to
them in his proper shape as the Duke of Milan. Because they
repented, he forgave them and told them the story of his life
since they had cruelly committed him and his baby daughter to the
mercy of wind and waves. Alonso, who seemed sorriest of them all
for his past crimes, lamented the loss of his heir. But Prospero
drew back a curtain and showed them Ferdinand and Miranda playing
at chess.
Great was Alonso's joy to greet his loved son again, and when he
heard that the fair maid with whom Ferdinand was playing was
Prospero's daughter, and that the young folks had plighted their
troth, he said--
"Give me your hands, let grief and sorrow still embrace his heart
that doth not wish you joy."
So all ended happily. The ship was safe in the harbor, and next
day they all set sail for Naples, where Ferdinand and Miranda were
to be married. Ariel gave them calm seas and auspicious gales; and
many were the rejoicings at the wedding.
Then Prospero, after many years of absence, went back to his own
dukedom, where he was welcomed with great joy by his faithful
subjects. He practiced the arts of magic no more, but his life was
happy, and not only because he had found his own again, but
chiefly because, when his bitterest foes who had done him deadly
wrong lay at his mercy, he took no vengeance on them, but nobly
forgave them.
As for Ariel, Prospero made him free as air, so that he could
wander where he would, and sing with a light heart his sweet song--
"Where the bee sucks, there suck I: In a cowslip's bell I lie;
There I couch when owls do cry. On the bat's back I do fly After
summer, merrily: Merrily, merrily, shall I live now, Under the
blossom that hangs on the bough."
AS YOU LIKE IT
Retold by E. Nesbit
There was once a wicked duke named Frederick, who took the
dukedom that should have belonged to his brother, sending him into
exile. His brother went into the Forest of Arden, where he lived
the life of a bold forester, as Robin Hood did in Sherwood Forest
in merry England.
The banished duke's daughter, Rosalind, remained with Celia,
Frederick's daughter, and the two loved each other more than most
sisters. One day there was a wrestling match at court, and
Rosalind and Celia went to see it. Charles, a celebrated wrestler,
was there, who had killed many men in contests of this kind.
Orlando, the young man he was to wrestle with, was so slender and
youthful, that Rosalind and Celia thought he would surely be
killed, as others had been; so they spoke to him, and asked him
not to attempt so dangerous an adventure; but the only effect of
their words was to make him wish more to come off well in the
encounter, so as to win praise from such sweet ladies.
Orlando, like Rosalind's father, was being kept out of his
inheritance by his brother, and was so sad at his brother's
unkindness that, until he saw Rosalind, he did not care much
whether he lived or died. But now the sight of the fair Rosalind
gave him strength and courage, so that he did marvelously, and at
last, threw Charles to such a tune, that the wrestler had to be
carried off the ground. Duke Frederick was pleased with his
courage, and asked his name.
"My name is Orlando, and I am the youngest son of Sir Rowland de
Boys," said the young man.
Now Sir Rowland de Boys, when he was alive, had been a good friend
to the banished duke, so that Frederick heard with regret whose
son Orlando was, and would not befriend him. But Rosalind was
delighted to hear that this handsome young stranger was the son of
her father's old friend, and as they were going away, she turned
back more than once to say another kind word to the brave young
man.
"Gentleman," she said, giving him a chain from her neck, "wear
this for me. I could give more, but that my hand lacks means."
Rosalind and Celia, when they were alone, began to talk about the
handsome wrestler, and Rosalind confessed that she loved him at
first sight.
"Come, come," said Celia, "wrestle with thy affections."
"Oh," answered Rosalind, "they take the part of a better wrestler
than myself. Look, here comes the duke."
"With his eyes full of anger," said Celia.
"You must leave the court at once," he said to Rosalind. "Why?" she
asked.
"Never mind why," answered the duke, "you are banished. If within
ten days you are found within twenty miles of my court, you die."
So Rosalind set out to seek her father, the banished duke, in the
Forest of Arden. Celia loved her too much to let her go alone, and
as it was rather a dangerous journey, Rosalind, being the taller,
dressed up as a young countryman, and her cousin as a country
girl, and Rosalind said that she would be called Ganymede, and
Celia, Aliena. They were very tired when at last they came to the
Forest of Arden, and as they were sitting on the grass a
countryman passed that way, and Ganymede asked him if he could get
them food. He did so, and told them that a shepherd's flocks and
house were to be sold. They bought these and settled down as
shepherd and shepherdess in the forest.
In the meantime, Oliver, having sought to take his brother
Orlando's life, Orlando also wandered into the forest, and there
met with the rightful duke, and being kindly received, stayed with
him. Now, Orlando could think of nothing but Rosalind, and he went
about the forest carving her name on trees, and writing love
sonnets and hanging them on the bushes, and there Rosalind and
Celia found them. One day Orlando met them, but he did not know
Rosalind in her boy's clothes, though he liked the pretty
shepherd youth, because he fancied a likeness in him to her he
loved.
"There is a foolish lover," said Rosalind, "who haunts these woods
and hangs sonnets on the trees. If I could find him, I would soon
cure him of his folly."
Orlando confessed that he was the foolish lover, and Rosalind
said--"If you will come and see me every day, I will pretend to be
Rosalind, and I will take her part, and be wayward and contrary,
as is the way of women, till I make you ashamed of your folly in
loving her."
And so every day he went to her house, and took a pleasure in
saying to her all the pretty things he would have said to
Rosalind; and she had the fine and secret joy of knowing that all
his love-words came to the right ears. Thus many days passed
pleasantly away.
One morning, as Orlando was going to visit Ganymede, he saw a man
asleep on the ground, and that there was a lioness crouching near,
waiting for the man who was asleep to wake: for they say that
lions will not prey on anything that is dead or sleeping. Then
Orlando looked at the man, and saw that it was his wicked brother,
Oliver, who had tried to take his life. He fought with the lioness
and killed her, and saved his brother's life.
While Orlando was fighting the lioness, Oliver woke to see his
brother, whom he had treated so badly, saving him from a wild
beast at the risk of his own life. This made him repent of his
wickedness, and he begged Orlando's pardon, and from thenceforth
they were dear brothers. The lioness had wounded Orlando's arm so
much, that he could not go on to see the shepherd, so he sent his
brother to ask Ganymede to come to him.
Oliver went and told the whole story to Ganymede and Aliena, and
Aliena was so charmed with his manly ways of confessing his
faults, that she fell in love with him at once.
But when Ganymede heard of the danger Orlando had been in she
fainted; and when she came to herself, said truly enough, "I
should have been a woman by right."
Oliver went back to his brother and told him all this, saying, "I
love Aliena so well that I will give up my estates to you and
marry her, and live here as a shepherd."
"Let your wedding be to-morrow," said Orlando, "and I will ask the
duke and his friends."
When Orlando told Ganymede how his brother was to be married on
the morrow, he added: "Oh, how bitter a thing it is to look into
happiness through another man's eyes."
Then answered Rosalind, still in Ganymede's dress and speaking
with his voice--"If you do love Rosalind so near the heart, then
when your brother marries Aliena, shall you marry her."
Now the next day the duke and his followers, and Orlando, and
Oliver, and Aliena, were all gathered together for the wedding.
Then Ganymede came in and said to the duke, "If I bring in your
daughter Rosalind, will you give her to Orlando here?" "That I
would," said the duke, "if I had all kingdoms to give with her."
"And you say you will have her when I bring her?" she said to
Orlando. "That would I," he answered, "were I king of all
kingdoms."
Then Rosalind and Celia went out, and Rosalind put on her pretty
woman's clothes again, and after a while came back.
She turned to her father--"I give myself to you, for I am yours."
"If there be truth in sight," he said, "you are my daughter."
Then she said to Orlando, "I give myself to you, for I am yours."
"If there be truth in sight," he said, "you are my Rosalind."
"I will have no father if you be not he," she said to the duke,
and to Orlando, "I will have no husband if you be not he."
So Orlando and Rosalind were married, and Oliver and Celia, and
they lived happy ever after, returning with the duke to the
kingdom. For Frederick had been shown by a holy hermit the
wickedness of his ways, and so gave back the dukedom of his
brother, and himself went into a monastery to pray for forgiveness.
The wedding was a merry one, in the mossy glades of the forest. A
shepherd and shepherdess who had been friends with Rosalind, when
she was herself disguised as a shepherd, were married on the same
day, and all with such pretty feastings and merry-makings as could
be nowhere within four walls, but only in the beautiful green
wood.
THE MERCHANT OF VENICE
Retold by E. Nesbit
Antonio was a rich and prosperous merchant of Venice. His ships
were on nearly every sea, and he traded with Portugal, with
Mexico, with England, and with India. Although proud of his
riches, he was very generous with them, and delighted to use them
in relieving the wants of his friends, among whom his relation,
Bassanio, held the first place.
Now Bassanio, like many another gay and gallant gentleman, was
reckless and extravagant, and finding that he had not only come to
the end of his fortune, but was also unable to pay his creditors,
he went to Antonio for further help.
"To you, Antonio," he said, "I owe the most in money and in love:
and I have thought of a plan to pay everything I owe if you will
but help, me."
"Say what I can do, and it shall be done," answered his friend.
Then said Bassanio, "In Belmont is a lady richly left, and from
all quarters of the globe renowned suitors come to woo her, not
only because she is rich, but because she is beautiful and good as
well. She looked on me with such favor when last we met, that I
feel sure that I should win her away from all rivals for her love
had I but the means to go to Belmont, where she lives."